L.A. Noire (360, PS3 £49.99)

It has an almost mystical standing among gamers, largely thanks to its infrequent release schedule and high- quality output.

While EA or Activision throw out 20 games in a year, Rockstar will publish two – and they’ll both be winners.

Its only game last year was Red Dead Redemption. A Western take on the sand- box theme, it went on to win just about every award going.

Despite being owned by Take-Two and having a string of development studios across the globe, it still has a boutique feel, offering games that have a distinct “Rockstar” fl avour. In short, it’s the best publisher in the world. Too gushing? Let me back up my comments by presenting L.A. Noire, perhaps the most cinematic game ever.

You play Cole Phelps, a cop in post-war 40s Los Angeles, who sounds like a character straight out of Mad Men or The Sopranos on the set of Chinatown, L.A. Confi dential or Double Indemnity.

You start by taking on Phelps’ workload of cases – that’s murder, extortion and prostitution. You follow leads, drive around looking for clues, examine corpses, all the usual trappings of a homicide detective.

Then there’s the interrogation of suspects. How you speak to suspects dictates their response. You can go after them hard, you can take a more gentle approach or you can go somewhere in between. How you manage a suspect infl uences the quality of information they provide.

In between bouts of questioning, you fi nd yourself involved in gun battles, car chases and problem solving – all within a tight storyline that includes the occasional wartime fl ashback.

What makes L.A. Noire so stunning is the characters within the game, each the creation of a motion-captured actor. There’s no ham or cheesy lines – this is genuine acting.

Then there’s the humour. Of particular fun is the dialogue between Phelps and his fellow cops. The realism isn’t just down to the actors, there’s some pretty clever technology at work here too.

Unlike GTA, much of the free-roaming has been cut out. You can still move around the environment but the storyline means you’re on a much tighter leash.

This is not a bad thing. Even if you stick to the storyline from start to fi nish there’s a solid 20 or so hours of gaming.

Plenty of people will have bought the game on its release on Friday and they won’t be disappointed.

Not only has Rockstar served up another ridiculously immersive piece of software, it may well have pushed forward the boundaries of gaming by creating characters that not only sound believable but look believable too.

Add in a strong storyline, brilliant back- drops and controls that make playing simple and you’ve got a title that barely puts a foot wrong.

The tone may be black but this is interactive entertainment at its brightest.